The technological change since World War II is mind boggling.
Carriers remain huge targets while the incredible array of weapons available to attack them boggles the mind.
They can be attacked from space, air, ground, other ships and by submarines—all even simultaneously.
In the beginning of World War II some countries still thought riders on horseback were a reasonable military option.
Sure, and so are the counter-measures.
The main thing is that all ships were/are vulnerable to land-based aircraft and so carriers try to stay well out to sea.
cgbg: "Carriers remain huge targets while the incredible array of weapons available to attack them boggles the mind.
They can be attacked from space, air, ground, other ships and by submarines—all even simultaneously."
All of those attacks were hazards of WWII also, except for space.
However, today's attacks from space can easily be considered the equivalent of 10 tons of projectiles traveling at Mach 3 from 25 miles away = one salvo fired from enemy battleships.
Sure, if you want to talk about hypersonic, that's fine.
The fact remains that, by the time your hypersonic missile comes within range of a carrier battle group, it's not going hypersonic anymore.
It's going the same speed as those projectiles fired from the big guns of battleships 80 years ago.
Again, I'm not saying modern US carriers are invulnerable.
I am saying they're tough, well protected and fully capable of doing the missions they're assigned.
cgbg: "In the beginning of World War II some countries still thought riders on horseback were a reasonable military option."
Are you kidding?
So did American special forces in Afghanistan.
It's always, always, always about using the right weapons for the mission assigned.
